Chapter 25: Tiamat

Dust.

When the dust cleared and the light fell upon the dreaded beast, the fascade of strength I'd gathered up dissipated instantly. First off, this ghost, too, carried a weapon: a long, stone hammer; and, since it was Ben, his figure was muscular, tall and strong. But that wasn't the worst part of the whole encounter. Even considering how Ben died, I'd never fathomed the possibility that such a thing would happen. To look upon him was to fill my soul with despair.

Ben had died in concrete, and now his skin was utterly encased in it.

There could be no hitting him. The concrete may suffer a pickaxe or jackhammer, but a pistol, rifle, double-barrel, mace, hammer, axe, or anything else that I had, wouldn't possibly faze him. I almost cried, but put on a bravado as I reached in the bag for the hammer. It had a pick side.

I stowed the axe away, since it would probably break if I hit Ben with it hard enough. Away I put the double-barrel also, since I doubted that buckshot would truly be effective. The first moments we had before the ensuing battle, I was too confused to make a plan. This wasn't supposed to happen. How could there be an enemy like this?

There was a sick crack and a chinking noise – I hadn't even seen Emily wind up her mace and send it flying into Ben's thigh, the mace's spikes piercing slightly, but the steel ball being repelled by the concrete. This was all the time I needed. Rearing back, I shouted 'Move!' Emily moved.

The hammer sent a deep whistle through the air as the pick end swung through the air, sickly piercing the concrete with a detestably high-pitched sound. Ben didn't seem fazed as he raised the club to smite me. Once more Emily rescued me with a vicious blow to Ben's head, which stunned him a little. Ripping the hammer out, I ran away from Ben.

'Come on!' I yelled as I sprinted down the hallway as fast as I could. Pyramid could be fazed, for God's sake, but Ben, he was invulnerable. Even if I did knock him down, I had no sword to trap him with. For the first time, I was truly powerless.

I waited for Emily at a bend, and Ben was gaining quickly on her. I looked around for some way to combat him. In the corner, completely out of place, was an item that seemed a godsend at the moment.

Is that a fucking jackhammer?

Grabbing it, I ran forward, screaming 'Out of the way!' to Emily. She crouched to the side as Ben took a swipe at her, and the rock drill started up with a jolt. Upon reaching Ben, I thrust the rock drill into his thigh, the rapid and forceful vibrations slamming the handle into my chest as it drilled away the concrete. Ben was moved back, hitting the wall and allowing myself to truly demolish him. Unfortunately, the drill wasn't long enough to pin him. Was I wasting my time?

I then noticed that the end of the jackhammer was shaped triangularly, like a sword. This was the Sword of Obedience. The blade must have gotten through, because Ben instantly cried out and fell to the ground, writhing. Emily stood up, shaking, before hitting him once more with the mace, forcefully upon his groin. I almost joined in when I heard a bang.

On impulse, I jumped forward a little, crouching, hearing the bullet whizz above my head. Looking right, I saw Ralph, in black, with a revolver and a long, circular piece of wood, at the far end, aiming right at us. He then cursed and ran to us. Thoughts of engaging him flew through my mind, but were dispelled by the notion that I was outmatched in terms of weapons: he had a revolver and a long club. I had three guns, yes, all of which I were saving on a different enemy. The pistol for monsters, the double-barrel for anything the pistol can't handle, and the rifle for the Pyramids.

Realising that he contolled everything in this world, he was probably just toying with us, placing two Pyramid Heads at the end of the hallway behind us, thus cornering us.

Well bravo Ralph. You're still gonna get owned before I get to the Pyramids.

Grabbing the fire axe, I moved me and Emily around the bend, out of Ralph's sight. I set the bag down and raised the axe to strike him when he came around the bend.

Terror.

The sole emotion dominated my mind, until I realised that, in a way, I was better. I'd fought horrible abominations, countless ones, and all he'd done that I knew of was kill nineteen people. Probably by sneaking up on them, by shooting them in the head, or some other cowardly method. Terror was replaced by a new emotion, one I was beginning to get used to.

Confidence.

Ralph came around the bend.

My axe met the top of his head in a wicked hack.

With a single yelp, Ralph buckled, twitching on the ground. The axe had been wedged in his brain, no human could survive that blow. But Ralph cursed and seemed to swoon, merely fell asleep, entered hibernation. Taking the axe, we moved on. The hallway was long, narrowing, until it led to a sole door with the red crest on it. Opening it, we found a far cry from what we expected.

There were braziers shining with blue flame surrounding a rectangular room, with a pit around the edges of the floor and a grey, steel platform extending out before us. In the centre was a monstrosity if ever I'd seen one, a beast upon six legs, what seemed a cross-breed of those lizards and those sewer monsters.

It was blue-green, and with scales, gills, and a pointed head with a large maw fitted with many rows of razour-like teeth. I was reminded of a dragon, and thus, reminded of the entity Tiamat, symbolic of primordial chaos. It made sense, I suppose. Instantly, I pulled out the double-barrel, and strode forward, telling Emily to stand back.

From the darkness there came many forms, dancing around the room with loud shrieks and hollars, phantom sahagin shadows running and twirling along the walls with grotesque grace as the smell of sulphur ascended from the pit and from the behemoth before me. The darkness swelled around me, and a discordant, high-pitched scratching noise flooded the area, echoing. These horrors, coupled with the insanely ugly monster before me, made it hard to concentrate.

The shadows danced around mockingly, and yet, they inspired me, telling me what I had to do. I weaved my own dance, strafing around the room as the monster spun on me, lashing out with a tentacle that popped out from a scale. Cocking the barrels of the shotgun, I loosed one cartridge – like I said before, it was no longer buckshot, but a slug, ripping into the monster's scales and bringing a painful cry.

I smiled – and in arrogance, stopped strafing, lifting the shotgun to deal what should be a fatal blast to the thing's skull. Its tail swiped my legs from under me as the beast bore down upon me, forcing me on my back and desperate. As Tiamat's maw descended upon me, I rolled out of the way, under her, and came out on her right side, loosing the last slug as I reached into my shirt pocket, pulling out two more. The slug blasted a hole into the thing's shoulder, forcing it back as it cried out in pain. I slid the slugs in and was about to fire when the thing's claw came out, slicing my chest with cold bone and further ripping my shirt. I screamed in pain as the thing knocked the double-barrel across the room, landing before Emily.

I clenched my fists and crouched, thinking quickly for a way out of my predicament. Fortunately, Emily knew how to operate Blake's shotgun, and a slug blasted into what I believe was its anus. It shrieked in horror, rage in its eyes – the shadows danced faster, the hum rising in intensity, an air raid siren slowly coming into existence from all around us. The intensity of the fight grew as the shadows raced in their unholy dance around the wall, the braziers' flames roaring up in applause – or maybe in opposition – to the newfound situation, me, unarmed, with Tiamat about to pounce.

A loud thud, followed by Emily's scream, came to my ears, then the clash of wood and metal against the ground. A resonating bang came forth then, then metal bouncing off the walls and drilling into Tiamat. The beast, about to pounce on me, fell forth, roaring. Blake's double-barrel had discharged, probably saving my life.

Having no time to think of divine intervention, I leapt upon Tiamat's head and sprinted up its back, slimy and cold, and, as it twisted and tried to knock me off with its tail, I spied the double-barrel. Pulling out two more slugs, I leapt onto the hard, metallic floor, almost landing on the shotgun – grabbing the weapon, I quickly inserted the slugs and cocked both barrels. Biting my lip to stem a scream, I spun on my back to see Tiamat's maw descending upon me.

'David!' came Emily's voice from somewhere I couldn't discern, for my eyes were closed, and my whole body shook. Death, the entity I'd escaped so many times – Death, the entity I'd hoped for so many times – was so near I could feel its cold grip. I should have just resigned, for what could I do? The maw was right there, about to clench my body in its strong jaws and consume me, all in the span of about ten seconds. But I didn't resign.

Dear God . . . I'm not ready. I'm not ready to die.

Then something happened.

In my horrible fear, in my shaking spasm, in my mindless terror, my body subconsciously pulled a fast one. Somehow, in my seizure-like, spasmic vibration, my finger, numb, had depressed both triggers of the double-barrel.

Facing the damned beast's maw.

The roar was astounding so close to my ears. The blast of light against my eyelids stirred my mind. The movement in my hands forced me to open my eyes.

The fucking beast's face was gone.

The shells had been buckshot, not slugs, for Tiamat thrashed round headless, its neck streaming blood all over me as it stumbled off the edge. In one movement, the shadows ceased their dance, falling and fading into nothingness – the braziers died as a large, fluorescent light flickered on, spilling the room in simple, white light.

There is a feeling one gets when they escape death, pain, or extreme fear; a feeling that rushes over them, not unlike touching the wire of a galvanic battery — yet it is not a feeling of relief. It is not euphoria, ectasy, elation – nor is it sadness, depression, or the like — or even humour. Truth is, it is indescribable. One can only understand it by experiencing it firsthand – even then, one only knows it, they do not understand it, per say. That feeling rocked me like nothing else, and I had to sit.

The experience truly changed me. This battle had a profound effect on me. Hesitating one moment could bring about death, making one mistake could bring the ruin of all I'd worked for. My arrogance nearly cost me my life. Never again though. I'd stay calm, I'd stay rational, and I wouldn't claim victory before my foe hit the ground.

Emily's touch was warm compared to my own – I was freezing, utterly freezing, more-so than the clock tower. She helped me up, and despite the cold, drake blood that was upon me, as well as my own, warm blood from the beast's claws, – hugged me. I, instead, gave her a large kiss, so grateful for the chance to do so once more.

She broke down, and I held her as tight as I could as we walked to the exit. 'You,' she said, 'you almost died, Dave. I couldn't – I couldn't move . . .'

'It's okay,' I said forcing a small laugh. 'I'm not dead, not yet. It'll take more than a dragon to bring me down while I got –'

I looked down at the double barrel. The barrels wouldn't close, having hit the steel ground forcefully as I pulled the final blast. Blake's shotgun was broken. Yet, it'd served a final purpose in disposing of the monster. I cast it away, along with all the shotgun shells.

Thanks, Blake.

'Emily,' I said, feeling bold enough. 'That's Blake's shotgun.'

'I know. I never said anything. I recognised it the first time you pulled it out, and just now, I saw BT carved on the barrel.'

'Okay,' I whispered as we opened the door.

The stairway was drastically different. Instead of a bending stair with a railing, this was a simple, stone stairway, unsupported, heading down into shadows. A long incandescent light followed it about ten feet above. We continued slowly.

A loud air siren blared endlessly around us, growing in volume and quality as we spied a large slab of stone at the bottom of the stairs. Stepping off, we came to a large section of a wall, with a single, wooden door before us.

Taking a breath and smiling, I twisted the knob, looking at Emily, who smiled back.

We'd finaly reached the bottom.